People don't talk to you when your face is damaged

That is my life lesson today - if you are going to bruise, do it on your arm or your leg.
The woman at the drs office looked uncomfortable when I went up to pay for the kids' appointments. So did the nurse. The pediatrician looked at me funny, but didn't say a word.
The cashier at Wal_mart looked at me sympathetically, and it was one of those times that you want to just tell people, " I'm, okay! REALLY! A man didn't do this to me!" Well, actually a man DID, but it was an accident and he didn't touch me with his hands.

We were laughing about it yesterday at the game. One of my parents from last years team came up to me and said, "I heard yougot popped yesterday!" and gave me a hug. Then just before the game, one of my adult teamates was giving my coach the play- by -play of what happened.
I'm okay, really - it looks worse than it really is. I am taking steps to eradicate it from my face ASAP though.

So anyway - I took my kids to the dr for physicals today. THIS morning, actually. We got up at 7:00 because the appt was down the hill at 8:45 Gotta love getting the first appt of the day! The kids were good, except Hairy Boy was a little grumpy. He wet his underwear and he wanted me to take him home to change. He was one mad little kid! No way am I taking him all the way home to change! He was nice to the dr until she asked him what his name was. He told her his name, but she didn't hear him. He told her again, and she asked him to say his whole name. Well, now he's just ticked off and refuses to say anythign at all. Then she asked him if he knew his ABCs and he nodded, but wouldn't say anything. She asked him to count, and he stared at her. OMG that is SOOOOOOO my son. Stubborn as a mule. She suggested that I have him tested for speech, and I gleefully told her he's already been tested, and he is fine! I have the lovely documented results to send to her if she needed them. She didn't :D

After the appointment, we went to the wal-mart down there. It feels nice to walk in that walmart and not worry that someone is going to shoot me on the way out. We bought some more balls for the softball team to practice with, and some vitamins.

At the drs appt, the ped was talking about kindergarten requirements and that I had to take HB to the dentist to fulfill that requirement. I don't, BTW - but I let it go cuz I wanted to get the heck out of there.

Anyway it reminded me of yesterday at the game. I pissed one of the parents off, I think. A Player's mother had called to tell me she was sick and couldn't come. I told her that was awful, and that I hope she felt better soon. Then she told me she was having state testing this week, so the girl needed to get well fast in order for the test to be taken. I thought to myself "no, she should be getting better for her own health, not some test" but I didn't say anything.

Well, I was curious, so I asked one of the parents about the testing. She said all the kids were testing this week and its the most stressful week of the school year. Are you freaking kidding me??? I asked if the kids got graded based on how they did on the test ( I am pretty sure they don't, the school is the one that gets points) and she said they did. But the kicker was that she said that it reveals how much their child is learning at school.
Okay - I didn't do a good job at stifling a snort. Sue me. I coughed to compose myself, and said "Are you kidding?"
She wasn't.
I told her that basing her childs entire school experience on one series of tests not a good idea. She might want to look at how her child progresses through the year instead. I used a softball example to illustrate my point. I told her that every year we have tryouts. Every kid that tries out is ranked. They all go through the same drills, and they get the same number of opportunities to show their skill.
She said "but some kids don't do well at tryouts." Exactly - some kids don't do well at testing. Also, some kids get really lucky because a ball falls right in their glove, or they close their eyes and just swing the bat. That is the equivalent to GUESSING on a multiple choice test.
Just to go a little further, I asked her to compare the 11 year olds on our team. 2 have never played before, 2 have been at it for several years, and 2 are in their second year. Yet they all play on different levels that don't really corrospond with their experience years. Some girls get more help that the other, some of them NEED more help than the others, and some don't need ANY help. They are born to play and it comes easy. Instead of berating the 11 year olds and telling them they need to be at a certain level in order to compete, each child is taken and worked with according to their skill level.
I also stressed that as the softball season progresses, most girls get better at what they are doing. They learn to strengthen their skils. It is the same at school. the kids are supposed to be learning new concepts, while strengthening the skills they already possess.

This is just sports - I feel education is WAY more important, yet its not treated that way. In California it is very much a "cookie-cutter, one-size-fits-all" model.

I stress to all the girls on the team that they need to pay attention in school , and do their best. The parents love that. But when I tell them not to stress about standardized testing, its not the end all for their educational requirements, the parents get huffy.

Why would you want your kid all stressed out? Stress isn't good for anyone's body, especially a childs.